Have you ever used the same letter for more than one purpose? Of course! It’s silly not to use a good letter for a number of different purposes–as long as its tailored appropriately to the audience and you remember to proofread and spell check. Yet the spell check in your word processing program is exactly where this strategy can run afoul.

Spell check in Word doesn’t like to re-check words and rules it’s already checked. So when you re-use letters, it will only check what you’ve changed. So while you should always proofread whatever you send out, a fresh spell check is also a very good idea.

The spell check for both Microsoft Word and WordPerfect includes an “Options” button, which contains a “Re-check document” option. By clicking on “Re-check document,” Spell Check treats your document as a new piece, which in your case is true.

So while you should always proof any piece before it goes out, a fresh spell check from scratch is just a good rule of thumb. You’d be surprised how many mistakes a fresh spell check, even after proofreading, can red flag.

“A picture is worth a 1,000 words.” If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it 1,000 times. For those of us who write for a living, pictures don’t replace the words we write but give the words we do write a chance to sink in. How?

Pictures, images, even some of the very words we write used as pull-quotes improve readability. Instead of looking at a page entirely of text, the reader can pause a second to take in the picture or image. This lends favorably to the reader actually retaining something about what the written piece is about.

With people skimming through e-mails, newsletters, and articles at breakneck speed, adding images to a piece may not tell the entire story—but it will get the reader to slow down and maybe stay a short while, rather than clicking.

Another trick copywriters use to write a punchy headline is to invoke some element of pop culture. The latest fad, a popular sitcom, even the number one hit on America’s top 40; all these make for handy attention-getters for your headline.

Case in point, a recent client’s client, an asphalt maintenance company, was holding an Ugliest Driveway contest. Not exactly a topic that lends to a mass audience. So, we came up with a headline that catered to a larger demographic:

That’s a bit more enticing than “Ugliest Driveway Contest, winner receives a luxury night out!” And since topics like driveway generally appeal to a more masculine audience, we made the headline more mainstream by including a show that’s very popular with women.

That’s not to say you want every headline to have some pop culture reference. Pick your spots. Just make sure it’s something that is fairly well known. A pop culture reference that’s not terribly well known or appropriate for a particular audience can really fall flat on its face.